P3.6-B annual budget for 2024 approved

By Glazyl Y. Masculino

BACOLOD City – The Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) here unanimously approved the annual budget of P3.6 billion for 2024 during their regular session last Wednesday.

This was confirmed yesterday by Councilor Jude Thaddeus Sayson, chairperson of the Committee on Appropriation and Finance.

Sayson said the budget for next year increased by P350 million from P3.250 billion this year.

Sayson said the budget is well distributed in all departments of the city.

But, he said that the biggest allocation will go to Health, City Engineer’s Office, and the Department of Social Services and Development (DSSD).

Sayson said that 50 percent of the budget was sourced out from the National Tax Allotment (NTA).

Since the 2024 budget has been approved, department heads can now start preparing their purchases so that they can implement the projects by January, the councilor said.

In Negros Occidental, the PHP5.43 billion annual budget for next year, which was approved by the provincial board last week, has an increase of 5.66 percent from this year’s PHP5.14 billion due to its higher NTA share.

Lower NTA share reduced the province’s 2023 annual budget by 12.87 percent, or about PHP780 million from PHP5.908 billion in 2022.

Of the total PHP5.43 billion allocation for 2024, some PHP5.24 million will be for the general fund and PHP190 million for the Economic Enterprise Development Department. (With a report from PNA)